UNITED NATIONS, 23 July 2022, (TON): Russia defended its veto of a UN resolution that would have extended humanitarian aid deliveries to 4.1 million Syrians in the rebel-held northwest from Turkey for a year.

Russia’s deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky had to defend Moscow’s veto on July 8 of a resolution before the General Assembly for only the second time since the 193-member world body adopted a resolution on April 26 requiring any Security Council member that casts a veto to explain its reasoning during an assembly debate on the issue.

Polyansky insisted that a resolution should be limited to six months, with a new resolution needed for another six months, in order to assess progress on Russia’s demands. He said these include stepped up aid deliveries across conflict lines within Syria, more early recovery programs in the country, greater transparency in aid operations.

He accused Western supporters of a year-long extension of failing to make progress on cross-line aid deliveries and early recovery projects. These demands were included in last year’s resolution extending aid deliveries from Turkey for a year, he said.